Walala Mansion
“I love working in public spaces because you can reach so many people. This new installation creates a boisterously colourful, interactive playscape in the heart of Hong Kong. It’s an oasis of fun! It’s quite enormous, one of my biggest installations to date. Despite it being an inflatable, we had to work really closely with a team of architects – it’s basically a building.” – Camille Walala
Invited to take part in the open-air festival Design District Hong Kong, Camille took inspiration from her project Villa Walala for the 15th edition of London Design Festival and created a huge, colourful and infectiously playful installation in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park. Full of Roman arches and curved pillars, the installation was designed to be a whimsical, visually arresting homage to the historic London mansion as well as a celebration of British pop culture. It presented an exuberantly unruly contrast to the clean-lined grey glass facades of the modern office blocks that formed its backdrop.
The experience of Walala Mansion began at the LED screen at Causeway Bay entrance to Victoria Park, which Camille adorned with vibrant colours and bold dot patterns. Continuing along the central lawn brought visitors face to face with an ambitious 13-metre inflatable structure with playful furniture pieces scattered around it, accompanied by a series of AR experiences created by Hong Kong studio Hattrick Creative.
Walala Mansion was one of the studio’s largest installations to date, and construction and installation proved a highly complex and challenging process, that required the coordination of a diverse international team to pull off. From the UK, Camille Walala and Julia Jomaa worked with inflatable design specialists based in Australia, makers in China and the Hong Kong events team – none of whom met in person until the day of installation. Despite the logistical challenges, the Mansion was successfully installed, and swiftly became of Design District Hong Kong’s most talked about features.
